Pleasure-railway structure



July 15 1924. 1,501,060

J. A. MILLER PLEASURE RAILWAY STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 1, 1924 Patented July 15, 1924.

isomer JOHN A. MILLER, or rr'olvrnwoon, rLrINoI's.

PI'ZEASURE-RAILWAY STRUCTURE.

To all whomz't may" concern:

Be it known that I, J orrrr A. MI-IJJER, a

citizen of the United S'tates, -and a resident of Homewood, in th'ecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Pleasure-Railway Structures, of which the following is a specification.

' of such, varying contour of the track and high speed of travel of the cars provision. must also be made to prevent the cars from leaving the track, and to insure the'high'esti degree of safety to the car occupants.

In some of my constructions heretoforeused, as for example in my Patent No; 1,319, 888 of October 28-,v 1:919: and Patent No.

1,448,763 of March 1923,-I build up the railstructures ofwooden-beams or stringers with rails in the form of fiat'bars thereon for receiving the unflanged vehicle wheels; and on the rail structures I secure other flat l bars affording engaging surfaces for safety roller structures for preventing deraili-ngi" of the cars as they travel rapidly around the track supporting structure; Such fiat bars, sometimestend to bend; upat their" endsand leave their supports, and owing to the small available surface it is almost impossible to weld the bar lengths-together. Furthermore where separate bars are used for providing the various vehicle wheel and '1' safety rol-lersconsiderable labor is requiredto secure all the bars to the rail strufcture; The important object of my invention; 1s

therefore to combine all the rail engagin surfaces into one unitary rail element preerably in the form of commercial-bars or beams. I find that Z-bars or beams adapt themselves very eflici'ently for this purpose. These bars can be readily secured on top of;v the wooden stringers and will then alforcl trackage surface for the vehicle wheels and for the side andupper engaging surfaces of safety roller structures. The installation labor is therefore greatly reduced, and furthermore'such bars afford ample surface for Welding them securely together at their ends so that continuous rails are readily prolvided Such Z-bars can also be very easily and readily bent in ordinary bending machines to. accurately fit the vertical and horizontal-"curves of the track.

On the accompanying drawing, which shows my improved construction the figure is a crosssectional view of the tracksupporting superstructure and a rear view of a car thereon.

On the drawing 1 represents the trestle or supporting: framework for the railway structure and 2 represents the tie beams which are supported on-suclr framework which in turn support the rail structures 1 and r of the track on which the pleasure vehicles 1) travel. As shown the rail structures comprise wooden beams or stringers 3 and 4:, the stringers overlapping sufiiciently at their ends and being secured to the tie beams by bolts 5.

The vehicle shown comprises the cross beams 6 which support the vehicle body 7 and the vehicle-"supporting wheels 8' have their axles 9 supported 'in the angle bar lengths 10 which are secured to the under sides of adjacent cross beams as shown. The safety roller arrangement is substantially the same as that disclosed in my Patent 1,448,763 already referred to: A horizontal safety roller or wheel 11 is associated with each vehicle wheel and supported in a bearing bracket 12-secured atthe adjacent corner 14!- and webs 13 provide engaging surfaces for. thetop and sides respectively of the safety rollers;- The safety rollers serve to.

l'nnit the lateral. and vertical movements of the vehicle when traveling. over'summits or down inclines and when travelling around lateral curves, and in order to provlde sufliclent contact area between the rollers and nmi the Z-bar flanges 14 the upper peripheral corners of the rollers are rounded off as indicated.

By having all the wheel and roller engaging surfaces combined in a unitary rail the construction is greatly simplified and less expensive as one set of screws or bolts will serve to hold the Z-bars securely in position. As there is suflicient area at the ends of the bars they can be readily welded together to form a smooth continuous rail. The Z-bars, on account of their balanced shape, can also be easily run through ordinary bending machines and bent vertically or laterally to the curvature desired for the track and to accurately fit the rail superst-ructures r and r. The rails will also yield" combination of a supporting structure, and rails 1n the form of Z-bars secured at their lower flanges on said supporting structure with their Webs extending vertically and their upper flanges extending toward each other. i y

2. In pleasure railway construction, the combination of a supporting structure, a track comprising parallel stringers secured on said supporting structure, and rails in the form of Z-bars secured by their lower flanges on top of said stringers, the webs of said Z-bars extending upwardly and'the upper flanges extending inwardly.

3. In a pleasure railway structure, the combination of a supporting structure, rails in the form of Z-bars having their lower flanges resting on said supporting structure and secured thereto and having their webs extending vertically and their upper flanges extending inwardly, a vehicle having vehicle wheels engaging on said lower flanges, and safety roller structures on said vehicle adapted to engage with the innerand under sides of said webs and upper flanges respectively.

4. In a pleasure railway structure, the combination of a support, a rail'in the form of a Z-bar secured on said support with its web vertical and flanges extending laterally, a vehicle having supporting wheels engaging one of said flanges, 'andsafety rollerv structures secured to said vehicle and having engagement with said web and other,

flange to limit the lateral and vertical movement of said vehicle. 5. In pleasure railway constructlon, the

combination of a supporting structure, a track comprising parallel rails in the form of Z-bars, said Z-bars being arranged with their webs vertical and resting with their lower flanges on said supporting structure and secured thereto and having their upper flanges extending inwardly, a vehicle, supporting wheels on said vehicle engaging on said lower flanges, and horizontal safety rollers engaging at their sides and tops respectively with said webs and upper flanges to limit the lateral and vertical movement of said vehicle.

6. In pleasure railway construction, the combination of a supporting structure, a track on said structure comprising parallel rails in the form of Z-bars arranged with their webs upright, the lower flanges of said Z-bars resting on and secured to said support, a vehicle, supporting wheels therefor for engaging on said lower flanges, and hori- ZOIllZttl safety rollers supported from said vehicle and engaging with said webs and said upper flanges of said Z-bars to limit the lateral and vertical movement of said vehicle when traveling along said lower flanges.

7; In a pleasure railway structure, the combination of a track support, rails in the form of Z-bars secured to said support with their webs vertical and flanges extending laterally, a vehicle having supporting wheels engaging the lower flanges of said rails, and abutments on said vehicle for engaging with the webs and upper flanges of said rails to limit the lateral and vertical movements of said vehicle.

8. In a pleasure railway structure, the combination of a track comprising rails in the form of Z-bars secured to rest on their lower flanges with. their webs extending upwardly, a vehicle having vehicle wheels engaging on said lower flanges, and safety abutments on said vehicle adapted to engage with the under side of the upper flanges of said Z-bars to limit the vertical movement of said vehicle.

9. In a pleasure railway structure, the

combination of a track comprising rails in the form of Z-bars secured to rest on their lower flanges with their webs extending upwardly and their upper flanges extending inwardly, a vehicle having vehicle wheels engaging on said lower flanges, and safety abutments on said vehicleadapted to engage with the under sides of said upper flanges to limit the vertical movement of said vehicle.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this th day of January A. D. 1924. 7

JOHN A. MILLER. 

